Korean Spicy Chicken/ Dak-Galbi

I didn't know what gotten into me, I just felt like having a Korean meal.  When I got that planned, I didn't know what I gotten myself into.  I made three out of four banchan (side dish) before and everything seem simple on the surface.  Only when I started working on it, only did I realize that it was actually quite a lot of work when making it all in a day, like slicing the Korean radish and scallions.  Then, the different methods of cooking the anchovies and bean sprouts.  Anyway, to cut it short, I spent the whole afternoon preparing and washing and ended with a sore back, that's mean I stood for too long.  Hahaha....  I have to admit, I like to take my time in the kitchen, that's why I cannot work in a restaurant setting, I would be so slow that all the customers would walk away and I would be left stressful. 

For the banchan recipes, I provided the links below:

Korean Scallion Salad (Pa-Muchim)

Mu- Saengchae (Spicy Korean Radish)

Myulchi Bokkeum (Stirfried Anchovies)

Mungbean Sprout MuChim/ SukJu MuChim (link coming up once I posted)

Recipe inspired from a Korean Cookbook that I borrowed from the library.

Ingredients:

1 skinless and boneless chicken breast, sliced thinly

1 small carrot, julienned

1/2 yellow onion, julienned

2 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces

4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water until soften, drained, stems discarded and thinly sliced

1 cup chicken stock or 1 cup water + 1 tsp. chicken powder

1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Marinade:

2 tsp. red pepper/chili powder

2 Tbsp. red pepper paste (gochujang)

1 1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic

1- inch fresh ginger root, peeled and finely grated

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. mirin

2 Tbsp. pure sesame oil

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Method:

1.  In a glass bowl, add in chicken and the marinade.  Mix well, cover with cling wrap and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

2.  Heat up your wok.  When heated, add in a little cooking with a dash of sesame oil.  When hot, add in the marinated chicken.  Stir well and try to cook the chicken.  Add in water and chicken powder, stir well.  Add in onion, carrot, mushrooms and scallions.  Mix and stir-well until everything is fully cooked and most liquid has been evaporated.

3.  Transfer to a plate and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.

Stir Fried Yam Leaves

My family loved yam leaves and sweet potato leaves.  So when shopping in the Asian market, I often would buy this veggie.  Usually I would cook it with the shrimp paste in soy bean oil but today I wanted to try something different.  I wanted to cook it without the paste and just seasoned it with some fish sauce and fragrant it with bird eye chili and garlic.  You might be familiar with this way of cooking too.  I had to cut the stem with kitchen scissor after I done cooking for easy swallowing.

This picture did not do the veggie justice.  It definitely taste better than it looks.

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Thai bird eye chili, chopped

1 big bunch yam leaves, pluck the leaves and wash in water twice

Fish sauce to taste

1 tsp. sugar

Method:

1.  Heat up the wok, when heated add in some cooking oil.  When hot, add in the garlic and chili and stir-fry until fragrant.

2.  Add in the yam leaves and stir-fry well or until the veggie reduce in size.  Season with fish sauce and sugar.  Add a little water if needed.

Serve hot!

Chinese Scallion Ginger Chicken (葱姜油鸡)

This recipe was inspired by a Chinese cooking show that I watched, called 美女私房菜.  Her recipe called for cooking the chicken in a spice soy sauce broth and then deep-fry the chicken until crispy before adding the scallion ginger fragrant sauce on top.  I bookmarked it because it seem so interesting.  My chance came when I had some leftover oven roasted chicken wings and drumettes.   While I was thinking of what to make of this leftover wings, her recipe came to mind.  So, I pan-fried my wings and drumettes and then cooked this scallion ginger fragrant and put it on top of the chicken to serve.  I truly loved this scallion ginger fragrant sauce and it can easily be used to top with fried fish, deep-fried pork ribs, shrimps, or anything you can think of.  My attempt at recreating a leftover to another new dish. 

Ingredients:

Leftover bbq/oven roasted chicken wings (about 8-10 wings and drumettes)

3 Tbsp. chopped scallion

3 Tbsp. minced ginger

1 tsp. chicken powder

1/4 tsp. white pepper

Method:

1.  In a hot wok, add in some cooking oil.  When heated, gently drop in the wings and drumettes in batches.  Pan-fry until heated through and crispy.  Dish out and place on a serving plate.

2.  In the same wok, scoop out some of the oil, just left about 1 Tbsp. of oil in the wok.  Add in ginger and scallion and stir-fry until fragrant.  Season with chicken powder and white pepper.  Pour this fragrant on top of the wings and drumettes to serve.

Stir-Fried Romaine Lettuce Heart with Tofu

I prefer the romaine lettuce heart which sold three in a packet instead of the romaine lettuce sold individually.  I found it more suitable for stir-frying as it hold it's shape better and provided more crunch to the dish.  This veggie has to be cooked quickly to preserve the green color or else it will turn black and it will look unappetizing.

For vegetarian, just omit the dried small shrimps and add the tofu for protein.  You can also read more about dried small shrimps here.  It has calcium and magnesium which said to prevent osteoporosis, reduce blood cholesterol level, regulate the blood flow and help in hypertension.  We only use a little bit of this in each dish.

Ingredients:

1 Romaine lettuce heart, washed and cut

1.5 Tbsp. dried small shrimps, washed and drain (you can also use dried shrimps)

3 cloves of garlic, slice

1/2 block of firm tofu, cut

Oyster sauce to taste, about 1-2 Tbsp.

Method:

1.  Heat up your wok, when heated, add in some cooking oil.  When the oil is hot, add in the dried small shrimps, fry until crispy.  Half way through add in the garlic.

2.  When the dried small shrimps is crisp and the garlic is slightly golden, add in the romaine lettuce.  Quickly stir-fry it.  Add in the tofu and mix well.

3.  Add oyster sauce to taste.  Add a little water if you want.  Mix well and serve hot!

Braised Black Vinegar Chicken

I created this dish because I saw a Chinese food show that talked about the many benefits of consuming black vinegar. Black vinegar originated in China and then spread across Asia.  It is made from fermenting grains such as rice, barley, millet, wheat and sorghum.  My Chinese friend introduced me to Chinkiang black vinegar (鎮江香醋) which is made from fermented glutinous rice.  Black vinegar made from rice has a slightly sweet and more complicated flavor.  Chinese has been using it as a marinade, in braising, as dipping sauce and as a stir-frying sauce.  In Japan, a lighter version of black vinegar called "Kurozu" is bring sold as a health tonic.  One in eight Japanese drinks a small amount of black vinegar daily because of its health benefits.

So, what are the benefits and what's so great about black vinegar?  Black vinegar contains acetic acid which can prevent cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension (lower blood pressure), coronary heart disease and stroke.  It also contains citric acid which helps to increase body energy and metabolism.  It is high in antioxidants and contains many essential amino acids that help to repair muscle tissue, balance the body's pH level and to heal everyday ailments.

Since I am not sure I can drink this like the Japanese, but I can certainly use more of it in my cooking.  Now I am thinking is that why in Chinese confinement, we have a black vinegar pork knuckle soup for woman who just gave birth.  I drank bowl and bowl of this sweeten black vinegar soup during my confinement.  Anyway, how did you use your black vinegar?   I used it in my Bean Threads Noodle too.

Ingredients:

8 chicken drumsticks, cut into pieces

3 shallots, slice

1 small piece of ginger, slice

2 red bird eye chili, whole (use more if you want it spicier)

3 green onion, cut into 1.5 inch

10 Chinese dried mushrooms, soften in hot water and drain

Seasonings:

2 Tbsp. Chinkiang black vinegar

3 Tbsp. ABC sweet soy sauce

1 Tbsp. light soy sauce

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

10 oz. water

1 tsp. sesame oil

Oil for cooking

Method:

In a stock pot, add in cooking oil and sesame oil.  When hot, add in ginger, scallion, shallot, chili and fry until fragrant.  Add in drumsticks, stir a little.  Add in mushroom and mix well.  Add the water and seasonings.  Let it boil.  When boiling, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about an hour or until the drumsticks are soft.

Pan-Fried Lemon Pepper Salmon

I have not pan-fry salmon for ages.  I always took the least time consuming method by baking it in the oven.  After a while, I guess I miss the crispy crust of pan-frying salmon.  This salmon dish is super duper easy especially if you already have the McCormick Lemon & Pepper seasoning salt in your cupboard.  I saw this seasoning in my pantry and realized that I hardly used this seasoning.  So, I took it out to be used in my salmon.  The salmon fillets that I bought was without skin.  So, in order to get the crispy crust that I was looking for, I patted both sides of my salmon with cornstarch.  And this got the job done.  I served it up with my Asian style stir-fried broccoli.  Or you can do my American style microwave butter broccoli, even easier.

Ingredients:

3 Salmon fillets, I cut it into smaller pieces so that it's easier to pan-fry in my wok

McCormick Lemon & Pepper seasoning salt to taste

2-3 Tbsp. Cornstarch, use as needed

Oil for pan-frying

Method:

1.  Season both sides of salmon fillet with lemon & pepper seasoning salt.  Pat both side with cornstarch.

2.  Heat up your wok or frying pan.  Add a little oil.  When hot, slowly add in the salmon.

3.  Pan-fry on one side first, then flip over and pan-fry the other side.  It's cooked when you press it in the middle of salmon and it's not soft.  Serve hot with your favorite sides.

Pear Preserves Cake

One of the reasons I made the pear preserves was I wanted to make this cake.  This cake was soft and moist and well received by my girls.  In fact, I am going to make this cake again.  I could taste the pear preserves in the cake.  The dried pineapple that I added increased the cake sweetness.  I would omit the dried pineapple next time I made this cake as I wanted to taste the pear alone without any competition from other flavor.  The dried pineapple sank to the bottom of the cake pan while baking and sort of glue to the pan and resulted the finished cake got stuck to the pan.  Hence, I advice you to line the pan with parchment paper if dried pineapple is used.

You can definitely substitute pear preserves with apple sauce or apple butter.  It should come out equally good even though I have not tried it before.

Ingredients:

(Wet)

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup 1% milk (or milk)

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup pear preserves

(Dry)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp, baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup dried pineapple (optional)

Method:

1.  In a big bowl, add in eggs, whisk well with a hand whisk.  Next add in oil, whisk until combine.  Then, add milk and vanilla, whisk well.  Add in pear preserves, whisk well.  Preheat your oven to 350'F.

2.  Now add the dry ingredients.  Add in sugar, whisk well.  Add in baking soda, baking powder and salt, whisk well.  Now add in flour, whisk until combine.  Lastly, add in the optional dried pineapple.  Use a spatula to stir it in the batter.

3.  Line a 8" square pan with parchment paper and spray with butter.  Pour the batter in.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

4.  Cool completely on wire rack before storing in an air-tight container.